The Septic Tank Full Of Secrets

Children photographed in 1924 by the Connacht Tribune in Glenamaddy before the ‘Home’ moved to Tuam

In 1925, Galway County Council appealed to the Bon Secours sisters to open a nursing home for mothers and babies. Fifty years later two boys stumbled upon a mass grave.

Between 1925 and 1961 St.Mary’s Mother and Baby Home, Tuam, operated under the care of the congregation of Bon Secours. Reports now emerging about the ‘Home’ are what we have come to expect when dealing with institutions of the Catholic Church.

This institution provided space mainly for ‘illegitimate’ children and some mothers. Motherhood outside wedlock was regarded as shameful and the church preyed on the victims of this attitude, as we have discovered through the Magdalene Laundries revelations.

The children attending local schools the primary schools which were just up the street on Dublin Road in Tuam. One local man recalls:

‘I remember some of them in class in the Mercy Convent – they were treated marginally better than the traveller children. They were known locally as the ‘Home Babies’. For the most part the children were usually gone by school age – either adopted or dead.’

The women, or girls, sometimes found work with the nuns in the Grove Hospital.

Their children were fostered out – around the district or further. Some people believe their siblings or other relatives were fostered out and disappeared or died in the ‘Home’ without notice to the families.

An Irish Mail on Sunday front page article on 25th May 2014, recounted a local health board inspection report from April 16/17th 1944 which recorded 271 children and 61 single mothers for a total of 333. The ‘Home’ had capacity for 243.

The report continues listing children as ’emaciated’, ‘pot-bellied’, ‘fragile’ with ‘flesh hanging loosely on limbs’. 31 children recorded in the ‘Sun room and balcony’ were ‘poor, emaciated and not thriving’. The oldest child to die, according to the MoS, was Sheila Tuohy, aged 9 in 1934. The youngest was Thomas Duffy, aged two days.

The two boys playing on a concrete slab near their homes in 1970, Barry Sweeney and Francis Hopkins, decided to crack the slab to see why it sounded hollow. To their distress they saw it was ‘full to the brim of skeletons’. The priest was called, Barry Sweeney remembers but he doesn’t know what happened after the spot was blessed.

Now locals in the Childrens’ Home Graveyard Committee who are archiving the evidence wish to collect monies to erect a memorial to the dead. 796 dead, and that’s only the children that local historian, Catherine Corless, has accounted for.

Oral history from ex-residents, who remember being left filthy for weeks, as well as health board reports damn the Sisters. While reports of systematic abuse haven’t emerged, there are initial reports from the Mail of poor conditions and harsh punishment.

In later years the Bon Secours was funded by the VHI (formed in February, 1957), the ‘Home’ didn’t close until 1961 and while the sisters moved into caring for private patients the children were shipped off to Letterfrack where a fate worse than any other awaited many.

The children died at the rate of one a fortnight for almost 40 years. The figures are still confused. Another report seems to claim that 300 children died between 1943 and 1946, which would change the statistic to almost two deaths a week in a relatively small institution.

Mortality at that rate countered trends in Ireland of the 1940’s which saw infant mortality drop from the regions of 80 per 1,000 live births to almost 40 per 1,000.

Newspaper reports from the period are few but they give some insight. From the outset the ‘Home’ is subject to economic review. Clippings from the Connacht Tribune (see below) show that ‘inmates’, as the infants were called, had an upkeep of 10 shillings per week which was judged excessive especially when they were fed by nursing mothers.

In a second clipping it is noted that it is expected that half of children ‘in all countries’ die before reaching the age of 15 but it was not expected that half of the children in this ‘home’ would die. Different times indeed. We don’t believe these figures are correct however, (see graph below) as infant mortality rates never get above 100 per 1,000 live births and accessible life expectancy figures climb steadily to almost 69yrs of age during this period.

As extraordinary as it may seem now, the reality of the period and of these women and children’s situation meant that burial in family plots was not possible. Shame meant the children weren’t welcome in the mothers’ home community whether alive or dead.

Historical or cultural relativism would have us accept what happened in this institution without much question; some will dismiss reaction to the story – they were tough times and the nuns were doing their best on limited budgets. But at the end of every argument we return to a field beside a modern housing estate and a septic tank full of secrets.

Local media seems to have ignored the situation on it’s doorstep. Local councils and health boards accepted or ignored the high mortality rates and their own reports. The Church’s long shadow of infamy covers every body.

There needs to be a full investigation by the Gardaí. Let those responsible for dumping hundreds upon hundreds of dead children in a septic tank be called to account.

[edit: Sat, 7th June 2014. As the story has unfolded in the last ten days there has yet to be a physical, forensic or archaeological investigation made at the site. We note that our presumption at the time of writing of hundreds of dead interred in the septic tank was based on the report from Barry Sweeney and Francis Hopkins – it is yet to be seen the number that may be found there – however, the story of what happened to these hundreds of children, thousands across the country and the mothers they left behind should not be forgotten as the real violence here.]Below clippings from the Connacht Tribune of 1928 and 1961 with thanks to Aaron Schwartz. Last clipping via Justice for the Magdalenes

We probably don’t know the half of what went on in places like this in the past. What we already know is sick enough. What these people of God got away with! If only there was a hell for them to burn in. It’s horrible to think what else like this went on in holy catholic Ireland.

Evil backward little cesspool we live in – full of Me Feiners and people who look the other way. We’re a joke of a people in truth – we lost all of our righteous leaders to the the US civil war during and after the famine, and we were generally left with the servile traitorous scum that have continued in power right up to this day bar one or two men like Collins. The Incas used Mitmac, and the Brits did the same by starving out a potential rival next door, and we are still in shite to this day thanks to that Famine, with runts for leaders, and a nation of Me Feiners. If I could change the fact I’m Irish tomorrow would i? I probably would. We have FUCK all to be proud of as a nation and fuck all reason to think things will change – the unfettered & unharrassed robbery or our money and our water gives testament to that – cowed and subdued people- well done the Brits, chapeau – you pretty much won.

Who do/did you vote for, Joe Sullivan? Your answer, to yourself, might just lie in this quote from your post: “We have FUCK all to be proud of as a nation and fuck all reason to think things will change – the unfettered & unharrassed robbery or our money and our water gives testament to that – cowed and subdued people.”

Assuming you’re in Ireland and are eligible to vote, that is.

I know there are groups popping up around the country, fighting against that to which to allude.

In Tuam, Co, Galway, a group who, like yourself, were so fed up of such issues took a local businessman and Galway County Council to the High Court, followed by the Supreme Court (on appeal) and, finally, An Board Pleanala and . . .

Guess what?

That group of determined townspeople won on each account! The initial judgement from the High Court was upheld on each count.

GCC was vilified by both judges on the lack of regard it showed for the history and heritage of the town, and their reckless and shambolic handling of planning permissions in retrospect. As far as the businessman was concerned it was a done deal, only a formality. After all, he had carried out this practice on eight occasions since 1996, so why should there be an issue on this occasion! GCC had continuously supported him – continuously broken the rules of correct procedure involved in seeking planning permission.

So, you see – the little man CAN triumph over might and WRONG.

If the Little Man is inclined to DO something about their grievances!

See Restore Our Palace Road on FaceBook for the full details.

I read of various townspeople taking a stance against their own County Councils and Government too.

That said, none of this is even remotely connected to the issue surrounding The Home in Tuam so, really, it has no place here!

Those townspeople who are dealing with it have stood their ground concerning their plan of action and they too won a victory, albeit a much smaller one than the case against the power and might of those who pay lip service to the needs and in the interests of the people they represent.

Quit whining and DO something to improve life for yourself and for others. It’ll occupy you so much you won’t have time to wallow in self pity! 🙁

No, I am not defending “this(sic) monsters”. No, I am not part of the problem as I had no involvement in The Home or its workings. Just so happens I know more about it than you , albeit very little, having lived in the same town. Still more than you, though. Too many jump to conclusions without any background knowledge, despite links that are posted which contain information from the people who have researched the situation. Doesn’t take long for the Chinese Whispers to take over!

Joe Sullivan don’t be so hard on us Irish, other countries have done way worse, and are still doing it, being, unfortunately, still as backward as they ever were even in this day and age!! Obviously, it’s how we live now that counts!!

The nuns didn’t abuse me – nor any of my siblings! In fact, I don’t know anyone who was abused by them. But, I was not in care, only educated by nuns who taught in the state schools. Different institutions entirely.

Jacquie is right… the nuns were abusive in all ways to us children… and I live in new Zealand… miles away from Jacquie… they thrashed us for no reason at all… we worked all day while the nuns walked behind us… with whips and sticks… in their belts… behind their backs… we had no safe place… or no one to go to… for help… Ann Thompson NZ

Ann Thompson, may I ask if you were in the full care of those nuns whose ill-treatment you describe? Were you a resident in one of their institutions? In the towns and cities of the Ireland of those times the schools were run by religious orders. (In the outlying villages /hamlets the teaching staff were lay people.). I attended a Convent School and went home at the end of the day, to my family. Pupils who ‘misbehaved’ – excessively mild compared with that of today – were sometimes punished, as were those whose work wasn’t up to scratch. The punishment would have been hand smacking with a cane or a ruler. It happened in every school, not just those run by nuns. It happened in other schools, not just Catholic schools. It happened in other countries, not just Ireland. That’s how it was in those times. It was acceptable in those times. Back to school work – it was wrong (we know now) to punish and draw attention to those who could not learn at the same pace as the average pupil. Again, this did not happen just with nuns or in Catholic schools alone. Or only in Ireland. It was acceptable . . . ‘in those times’. Teachers were not au fait with learning difficulties then, within or outside of Ireland. Appropriate research then was a thing of the future, the here and NOW. I often wonder if some of those nuns were frustrated in their lives and really didn’t want to be nuns anymore. I wonder if they vented their frustrations on their charges as a release. NO, I am categorically NOT finding excuses for those responsible, but my theory might explain a lot.

Elizabeth, I think you are correct in historical terms – corporal punishment was routine for school pupils, and cruel rites were made customary even in elite schools. In my own childhood – 1960s – it was still common for boys to be given the strap, at home, by their fathers. However, this particular institution sounds macabre. I have read details of other institutions in Ireland, and in fact the mothers and children were well fed, although they were in quite oppressive, regimented surroundings. But they were clean, had nourishing food, and death rates were no higher than normal. What is going on here? Has the figure of 800 been fully documented? I don’t like the sound of those reports, and I hold the Irish state responsible for the welfare of its citizens.

Heart breaking and disgusting. The a garda investigation should be launched asap. All those bodies should be given a proper, respectful burial. It is the least that they deserve. When will there ever be accountability in this country for the gross violation of human rights by the catholic church?! They should all be brought to justice.

I grew up in this area and used to play in this area as we called it the “buildings” we were always told never to go into or play in the baby’s graveyard we always knew it was there and everyone from our area knew it was there indeed mark the baby’s graves with a headstone which would be better than the plauge and shrine that is there now but I say let the dead rest in peace. I have seen numerous articles with people commenting saying to excavate the graves and count the dead. The babies went through enough in that awfull home leave them alone

You must dig the site up and try to identify the children. They must be given a proper burial even if it is at the state’s expense. Everybody deserves a decent burial, especially those abused by the institutions of state or those supported by the state.

Gerry, how do you think the children CAN be identified? Know anything about FORENSICS during those years, especially in Ireland? The names, ages and dates of their deaths have been made available from existing records that were handed over on closure of The Home. It’s all there in the links provided – all you have to do is read them in their entirety. I do appreciate the sentiments you have expressed.

Truly shocking that someone who professes to give their life to God can act in such an evil manner. How do these people sleep at night, what they did was nothing short of torture & murder and should be brought to justice without question. If there is a hell I’m sure they will find themselves at the gates.

Truly shocking, how can these people sleep at night, to give their life to God yet treat his children worse than animals, nothing short of torture & murder. If there is a hell they will be at the gates upon their passing & those still with us should be brought to justice, even in death these poor children were thrown away in the sewer, I hope they rot!

Worth noting that under Brehon Law it was not considered an offense to have a child out of wedlock, no concept of “illegitimate child” at all. If your father claimed you, that was the end of it.

Inasmuch as Irish culture has been oppressive to single mothers and their children it was the Catholic Church that made it that way.

Nice racket, that. Corrupt society such that it shames women for having children and then offer a half-assed “solution” to the problem that involves enslaving the women and selling the children. Gotta keep adding to the gold coffers at the Vatican don’tcha know.

The Bible explicitly states that if a woman commits fornication she’s to be made to marry her partner and if she commits adultery she’s to be executed. If the Church can’t live up to those commandments then there is nothing else they are allowed to do. Day late, dollar short, leave it alone.

What went on under the church here is a national disgrace and we need to start coming to terms with it sooner rather than later. It’s a taint on everyone who allowed it to happen. Everyone was complicit and those that were not and were brave enough to speak up were ostracised and even ended up being committed to asylums. It’s our holocaust. We need to start begging for the forgiveness of those poor children.

Rob Northall, must admit I was unaware the Gárda were carrying out an investigation into missing Birth Certificates. Didn’t come across any mention of it in the accounts from those who documented the tragic discovery. Don’t think it’ll be an easy case, based on past experiences, but you never know. Yes, I’d love any links you have at your disposal, and thank you for your kind offer. May be easier to leave me a message via FaceBook -same moniker as here. Look forward to further details. Mind if I ask what your interest is ? Tuam is my birthplace yet I knew very little about The Home.

To think, this was all caused by the men and women “of God”, this bullshit we call Religion allowed this to happen! The idea that people today still believe there is a God, especially with stories like this is just so dumbfounding! All you have to do is ask who’s profiting before you give your life to some rediculous made up faith! And when you see the Vatican living high and mighty in such grand opulence with almost as much gold as counts of child rape swept under the rug then that should be enough for anyone to say “Nope, this cult isn’t for me!” but, if you still want proof it’s all bullshit then PLEASE, I implore you to READ the full Bible!! If you actually take the time to read that book and see for yourselves that it condones slavery, rape, murder, bashing infants off boulders, incest, mutilation and so on then maybe you’ll stop what you think you’re preaching and actually develop a mind of your own and relinquish the control that this organisation has over you because I assure you, if you believe in ANY of this then you are NOT the free thinker you think you are!!

Just a few little examples of things the Bible bans, now remember, if you are Catholic or Christian or any faith that derives from the Bible then you absolutely CANNOT pick and choose what parts of that book to follow!! You either follow it all or NONE of it, PERIOD!!

Now, most of those are basics, things we all do…If you believe you’re going to Hell for doing anything here, the you are a fucking idiot!! BUT, REMEMBER!! If you follow the Bible you CAN’T pick and choose!! So, if you’ve done anything listed there then you are a SINNER!!

But, don’t worry, God’s not real!! So, stop worrying and live your life! You believe in God because you want to feel like you matter…You do matter, life as we know it is all we know as real so, if you want to matter to anyone then matter to your friends and family! It’s time to do away with this and all religious organisations that enslave the very essence of humanity!

Dylan, it is highly doubtful that I will convince you otherwise, but there is a big difference between the Old and New Testaments. The scripture you shared was for the Jews alone to separate them from the pagan nations around them. Jesus came to fulfill the law and provided salvation for all people that look to him. Following God has nothing to do with rules and regulations, rather in surrendering our lives to Him and Him alone. As for the Catholic Church, it has been an obstacle to salvation for many and in this sad example it acted as a representative of hell, not heaven.

MattK, the Catholic Church is an Institution, made up of the Religious and the Layman. Those members who chose to be part of the religious organisations within The Church, together with those who did not, are HUMAN first and foremost. Who has ever said humans are perfect beings? Imperfection lurks within individuals of both camps but it does not imply that THE CHURCH AS AN INSTITUTION is “a representative of hell”. This is far removed from the truth of what The Church stands for. It does not instruct or encourage its members to go forth and inflict evil on their fellow man – far from it. To gain an understanding of and insight into the Roman Catholic Church one must be prepared to communicate with those within who are in a position to impart the requisite information and teaching.

Child rape, child neglect, child cruelty, child exploitation, terrorising single mothers in grim institutions, stirring up bigotry (e.g. the Fethard boycott), involvement in genocide in Rwanda, hiding priests and nuns wanted in Rwanda on mass murder charges, collaboration with nazis, helping wanted nazi war criminals to escape after World War II (including via Dublin)… and so much more.

Imagine if the Catholic church was not a religious outfit, imagine it was simply a private firm. Then would anyone be saying things like “they did their best” or “those were different times”.

Let religious people worship their gods as they wish, but give them no special privileges. Unfortunately, one of the privileges enjoyed by the Catholic church in Ireland is that they have been almost immune to the laws that govern the rest of us.

A full investigation into what happened in Tuam, which names names and opens account books, is the very least we should look for.

How can you arrive at THAT conclusion? I’m not – never was – a nun. Of the Bon Secours order, or any other. Nor did I spend any time incarcerated in that – or any other – institution, as an employee or a ‘fallen’ woman. Nor was I born out of wedlock and banished from my home and family. Now, put that in your pipe and smoke it, whether you like it or not. I’m the type who READS background information, enough of which has been made available, whereas too many skip that part of the equation and play the Chinese Whispers game. My breeding doesn’t allow me to jump on the bandwagon and hurl misinformation or anecdotal evidence about. You give the impression you are unfamiliar with such dignity and decorum. In fact, I don’t know why I responded to your outlandish comment/insinuation because it really does not dignify a response.

It would be futile to name names BECAUSE ALL INVOLVED HAVE LONG DIED, since The Home closed circa 1961!

I would have thought it was evident, however.

Copy/paste:

Elizabeth H Davenport says: June 2, 2014 at 2:48 am I think naming names would be a futile exercise since The Home closed circa 1961. Account books may be another matter, but for many reasons, I doubt they’d be forthcoming. ‘

I am so saddened by this article, their lives will have some meaning if A full investigation into what happened in Tuam, which names names and opens account books, it is the very least we should look for.The article in the newspapers discussed the 10s that each infant received , I find this even hard to believe the feeling that the children received nowhere near that amount and somehow someone in the church was profiting from that money , while the children lived in abject misery and poverty …there needs to be an investigation…so sad

Folks… this went on everywhere… It went on here in Canada… there is a major court hearing about it right now in Belgium from Canada. Queen Elizabeth, the two last Popes etc are all accused. This went on everywhere because Satanism has taken over the church a long long time ago. Hundreds of years ago. children have always been the satanist’s preferred flesh…Perhaps now humanity is ready to face it. Fight it and clean the dump. Get involved if you find it so horrible. And teach others and get them involved.http://ici.radio-canada.ca/regions/mauricie/2014/05/29/001-valerie-poulin-collins-surete-quebec-arrestation-comparution.shtml

Into the valley of death were born the 800. It is too much. I can’t process this. The doctor advising that half of all children die by age 5 reminds us of the role doctors played in covering up child abuse. Pot bellied children and emaciated children are malnourished, called kwashiorkor and marasmus respectively and is seen in famines. Starving children to save money is the grossest of abuses. Most severe neglect is where a parent is mentally ill or drug addicted. Religion as a delusion and an opiate does not seem adequate though. Moral depravity is the only word for it and dumping the kids in a septic tank just leaves me speechless.

As a mother, my heart is aching for these precious children and babies. They are long past suffering now but I can’t even bear to think of how agonizing their little lives were before they finally succumbed to hunger and neglect….I don’t know if my tears are of heartbreak or anger. Their individuality must be recognized and those responsible for their deaths must be named and called to account, whether they are alive or dead themselves. This country is mired in injustice and inequality and the most vulnerable need to be heard and considered. These 800 innocents must be given the burial they have too long been denied. <3

The Fg and FF and Lb Government all knew About This and they did nothing but yet the FG and LB government has Brought back Septic Tanks once Again, Knowing all about this, but they covered it all up just like the babies in Mother and baby St Patricks in Navan Road where some were murdered and killed there too and are still buried under the new houses placed there,

Absolutely horrific Edmund Burke (Irishman) once said “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing” There are many similar causes around the world that still exist today, Can everyone try to make one small change that may make a difference.

Yet another horrific part of our history. To those that blame the church, you are right, but just because a person is ordained does not mean that they are doing Gods work. I treat clergy the same as everyone else and take each one as I find them. Please don’t use this as an excuse for not having faith. That said I firmly believe that the church is still giving sanctuary to abusers, this can only be stopped by the church because as long as they protect them they arenot only allowing these haenous crimes but are encouraging them. This gets us to the tricky part, we(anyone with a shred of decency) need to force their hand and that is where I hit a brick wall! All I can think of is to stop putting cash into baskets at mass. Any better ideas are welcome because we need to stop ranting and do something.

I cannot categorically deny or confirm The Church KNOWINGLY continues to harbour abusers amongst their numbers because, as a mere Joe Bloggs I am not privy to that information. But I can categorically state that much has been done, by each diocese of The Church in the UK, to ensure the protection of children is paramount. Parishioners working with children must be CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) checked and updated annually, and they cannot work alone with them. Those with little or no knowledge of the Catholic Church wouldn’t be aware of this, of course. [Google might just throw up some facts.]

I have some bad news- things (humans) don’t change much. In America, more recently- “according to official federal statistics, 15,510 children died from child abuse and neglect during the 2001-2010 period examined in this report. Additionally, several studies have concluded there actually is significant under-counting of maltreatment deaths and that the true number is several thousands more over those 10 years.” from- everychildmatters.org report

Suppose at least the burials are better in the USA. Surely we have laws today to prevent mass ceptic tank burials to go with the child protection laws and services that for some strange reason don’t work that well-

As far as I know, the act of abandoning a human remains without burying it in an appropriate place was and still is a criminal offence. Now you can argue that the offenders are possibly all dead and while the statute of limitations may have expired but a crime has been committed and it is certainly in the public interest to pursue the investigation.